COVID-19 Updates

UPDATE May 15, 2020

Dear Canyon 8th Grade Families:

We are pleased to announce that on the last three days of school, we will be offering an opportunity for families to pick up 8th Grade Advancement Certificates (as well as other items--see below) at school in a drive-through format to maintain safe social distancing. The dates and times are based upon your student’s 1st period Advisory Teacher:

WHERE: Curbside/drive-through along the front of school (our staff will provide curbside support so you can stay in your car)

WHEN: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm, the last three days of school (5/27, 5/28, 5/29 - see specific days below)

WHO: 8th Grade Students are organized by days, by their 1st Period Advisory Teacher

WHAT: Advancement Certificates will be available for all 8th Grade Students

***In addition, pre-ordered yearbooks for 8th grade students, 8th grade Class of 2020 t-shirts, 8th grade panoramic photos, and any 8th Grade Awards will also be available for drive-through pickup at this time.***

HOW: Please come prepared with your student’s Advisory Teacher and Full Name(written on a piece of paper to display through your windshield would be helpful, but is not necessary)

We would be so happy to see our 8th grade students (friendly reminder: they do need to stay in the car to maintain social distancing!). Thank you to our Student Activities Directors, Ms. Effie Hsu and Ms. Kate Shen, as well as our Canyon Staff for their help coordinating this. If you have any questions, please contact ehsu@cv.k12.ca.us or kshen@cv.k12.ca.us.

Sincerely,

April Wong

Principal

UPDATE May 14, 2020

Dear Canyon Families:

I wanted to share an update with all families on the successful 8th Grade locker items/textbook return this week--thank you to our staff for organizing and thank you to our 8th Grade families and students for helping us return items in a timely and organized manner! We are now ready to do the same drive-through pickup/return for our 7th and 6th Grade students/families next week. Please see the schedule and details below according to your STUDENT’S GRADE and

LAST NAME.

We will have a drive-through, curbside pickup area only, on the following days (please note pickup days are specific to your student’s locker & last name as we have organized them in this order). Included in this pickup will be your student’s hallway locker items, PE locker items, and for 6th grade only--any Outdoor School clothing items you ordered.

***Please help us minimize contact by writing your student’s first and last name on a piece of paper and displaying it in the front windshield for the drive-through***

7th grade:

Monday (5/18): 7TH GRADE Last names: A-Man

Tuesday (5/19): 7TH GRADE Last names: Mar-Z

6th Grade:

Thursday (5/21): 6TH GRADE Last names: A-Lee

Friday (5/22): 6TH GRADE Last names: Lei-Z

Location: Bus loop in front of school at D-11

Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Students will NOT be allowed on campus at this time. Please also bring any of the following school property items with you when you come to Canyon to be returned:

textbooks

library books

instrument (if you have one)

classroom books/materials that belong to Canyon Staff

athletic uniforms (if you have one)

your student (If they are able to come, we would LOVE to see them! But we do need them to stay in the vehicle--thanks!)

If any student has personal belongings in a teacher’s classroom, those will need to be collected at a later time. We are NOT collecting chromebooks that were checked out for distance learning. If you have any questions, please contact Assistant Principal, Zandra Texeira at ztexeira@cv.k12.ca.us. Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

April Wong, Principal

UPDATE May 7, 2020

Dear Canyon 8th Grade Families:

In an effort to prioritize the return of essential items to students, we have cleared out students' belongings out of 8th Grade hall lockers and PE lockers first, and these items are ready for pick up starting next week--please see the schedule and details below according to your student's last name.

We will have a drive-through, curbside pickup area only, on the following days (please note pickup days are specific to your student’s locker & last name as we have organized them in this order):

Monday 5/11: (J-098-J-240 - LAST NAMES: Rod - Zwe)

Tuesday 5/12: (I-062- J-097 - LAST NAMES: Lee - Rod)

Wednesday 5/13: (H-105 - I-061 - LAST NAMES: Don - Lee)

Thursday 5/14: (C-001 - H-104 - LAST NAMES: Ach - Din)

Location: Bus loop in front of school at D-11

Time: 10 am - 12pm

Students will NOT be allowed on campus at this time. Please also bring any of the following school property items with you when you come to Canyon to be returned:

textbooks

library books

instrument (if you have one)

classroom books/materials that belong to Canyon Staff

athletic uniforms (if you have one)

your student (If they are able to come, we would LOVE to see them! But we do need them to stay in the vehicle--thanks!)

If your student has personal belongings in a teacher’s classroom, those will need to be collected at a later time. We are NOT collecting chromebooks that were checked out for distance learning. If you have any questions, please contact Assistant Principal, Zandra Texeira at ztexeira@cv.k12.ca.us. Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

April Wong, Principal

UPDATE May 1, 2020

Dear Canyon Community:

I hope you are all doing well and wanted to share updates on some upcoming events as we head into May and look forward to the end of the school year. I have also included aspecial video message for students thanking them for all of their ongoing efforts and sharing my Condor Pride!

Given that the extended shelter-in-place order requires that public gatherings remain limited, and in order to maintain our commitment to safely and responsibly focusing on essential activities for our school community, we are planning for the following:

Advancement Ceremony

Canyon will be presenting a virtual advancement ceremony honoring our 8th graders, with the goal of having that ready for our regularly scheduled advancement day which would have been May 28. Our plan is to maintain the integrity of our traditional program in a virtual format. More details will be forthcoming very soon specifically for 8th grade families on participation and how to access this event.

Lockers

Staff will be clearing out hall lockers and placing students' items into bags that will be available for drive-through pickup during a specifically scheduled time in the coming weeks. Textbooks will remain in the locker for check in and inventory. We will focus on 8th grade and non-returning student lockers first as staffing, time, and space allow. When your student’s items are available for drive-through pickup, we will let you know by email in advance. Thank you for your understanding.

Textbook/Other School Property Return

As with lockers, we will be focusing on 8th grade and non-returning students first and during locker item pickup, we ask that you be prepared to return any school property items that you had at home (textbooks, athletic team uniforms, library books, or any other school property--not including school chromebooks used for distance learning) at this time and we will have staff and storage available to collect these items.

Yearbook

These are tentatively scheduled to be delivered at the very end of May and so the distribution plan and timeline will be determined based upon an on time delivery as well as available staff. More information to follow on this.

PTA Meeting 5/12 @ 7:00 pm via Zoom

Our final general PTA meeting will be held virtually on May 12 and elections will be held at this time as well. Please save the date and note that details for accessing the event will be shared closer to the date.

Distance Learning Family Survey

Thank you to everyone who has already participated in the Distance Learning Family Survey. We are pleased to offer it now in bothEnglish andSpanish, so if you have not yet shared your feedback, we invite you to do so.

Outdoor School Refunds Update

Thank you to everyone who has submitted their refund requests. We understand that they are being processed at the district office and we expect the checks to go out in batches starting sometime next week, but are aware that the post office is experiencing delays as well. Thank you for your patience.

Thank you to everyone for your understanding and flexibility as we work through the logistics of wrapping up a school year remotely. We appreciate everyone for continuing to stay connected and engaged with our school community.

Sincerely,

April Wong, Principal

UPDATE April 20, 2020

Dear Canyon Families:

You are receiving this message because our records show you have student medication in the Canyon health office. Your item(s) will be available for pickup during a 2-hour window at a drive-through station out in front of the main office next week on:

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Between 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

This will be a drive-through pickup only and a parent/guardian will be required to provide the following information to retrieve the student’s medication:

Student’s First and Last Name

Student’s ID Number

Student Date of Birth

Your (Parent/Guardian) First and Last Name

Please note that you will not be able to come onto campus at this time due to the current restrictions on public gatherings. If you feel this email was sent to you in error or you have any questions, please contact Canyon’s school secretary, Alicia Mendoza, at amendoza@cv.k12.ca.us. Thank you!

Sincerely,

April Wong

UPDATE April 8, 2020

Dear Canyon Community:

Thank you for all that you are doing to support our students and our school during this time. We know this transition has been challenging in many ways and appreciate your patience, understanding, and flexibility as we work through the process of establishing new systems for distance learning.

As a staff, we miss seeing our students at school! We miss the daily routine and sense of community that is connected to the physical space of Canyon. We also recognize that the safety and health of students and our community are our top priority. The sudden shift to distance learning and working remotely has been a challenge to us all. We will continue to work through this together.

We want to ensure that students are connected and engaged, able to access distance learning resources and connect with their teachers regularly. In alignment with our district and California Department of Education guidelines, we are converting to a Credit/No Credit system for the second semester to honor our responsibility of holding students harmless during this period of distance learning. Although it may look different, learning is still taking place remotely. Students are still engaging and developing their knowledge and skills, and we appreciate your help and support at home. Teachers are providing quality instruction and feedback on students’ progress. The counseling and administrative team have been reaching out and are available if you should need any additional support. We also have a Distance Learning Center page on our website, to help you navigate and provide resources during this time at home. We are here for you.

We are determining a process for students to recover their belongings and return their school textbooks/loaned materials in compliance with directives for social distancing. There will be more information to follow after Spring Break, however we anticipate that return/retrieval will happen in May. As of now, students and families are not able to come onto campus, so if you need to recover essential items immediately, please email Principal April Wong at awong@cv.k12.ca.us directly.

We will be reaching out to families with details on how to pick up medications that are on site and developing a plan for a drive-through pickup that will maintain social distancing standards. If you have medication at Canyon in the health office, we will email you directly after spring break with further details. If you have an urgent need for medication to be returned before that, please email Principal April Wong.

At the end of the school year we would typically be planning for a number of activities. Please know we still want to celebrate our Condors for all of their efforts and are looking at many ways to make that happen! I am so proud of our Canyon Community for coming together during these challenging times. Take care of yourselves and each other, and please be well.

Sincerely,

April Wong, Principal

UPDATE March 24, 2020

Dear Middle School Families:

We appreciate everyone’s efforts during this transition time as we continue to build our distance learning program. We want to emphasize that students should be completing assignments and class activities. For students who are struggling with access, we will continue to do everything we can to get them set up. But for students who are equipped and ready to go, they should be participating and teachers will continue to provide support as needed. Instruction will be delivered in a slow, steady, and effective manner with flexible due dates, as to not cause unnecessary stress on students, families or teachers. Our priority and focus is on keeping students and families connected and engaged with learning.

During this time, at our middle schools, we are assessing student work to inform instruction. While “assessing” and “grading” are often used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. When a student submits an assignment the teacher assesses the student work to determine understanding. Teachers use this information for individual students to re-teach the content if needed, and collectively for a class to determine how and when to move forward. Grading is when a teacher assigns a value to the student work. Most commonly, we use points or letter grades. Until we have more information, teachers will refrain from assigning formal letter grades and will focus on ongoing assessment.

In addition, we will begin adjusting new instruction on Wednesdays to honor teacher collaboration time and provide students time to continue completing assignments. If your student is still not accessing the information due to lacking a device or other internet issue or need, please reach out to your principal/site secretary. We will provide assistance in any way we can and we are open to feedback regarding your child’s experiences with distance learning. Please continue to reach out to your student’s teachers for specific help on assignments or questions around instruction. If there are socio/emotional or other concerns, site counselors and administration are available for help. Thank you for your continued patience and partnership.

Sincerely,

Jaliza Eagles and April Wong

Principals, Creekside and Canyon Middle Schools

UPDATE March 17, 2020

Dear Canyon Community:

I hope you are all safe and well. We have some important reminders and updates in three areas to share with you:

DISTANCE LEARNING ACCESS

As I mentioned in my email yesterday and was noted in the Superintendent’s communications, traditional operations have halted but we will continue to support distance learning. For our Canyon students, that means they will need to have access to their accounts for the following:

If your student does NOT have a device through which they can access both of the above, student Chromebooks are still available for checkout. Please use thisCanyon Chromebook SignupGoogle Form to signup and note that you can now pick up the devices at the District Office, 4400 Alma Avenue, in the Board Room (near main entrance) Tuesday, March 17 until 6pm and Wednesday, March 18, 3-6pm.

In the event that you need tech support relating to your student’s distance learning experience, please see this flyer: Technology Support from CVUSD.

COMMUNICATION WITH TEACHERS

Teachers have been asked to reach out to students today by email or messages via Google Classroom. Please note that students and families should be able to access the distance learning platforms for each of their classes starting Wed 3/18 by logging into the Aeries Portal and on the student’s Class Summary page, find the “View Website” button for each class (to the right). That should take you to the teacher’s distance learning platform where you can access information, materials, and directions. Note that if the teacher has selected Google Classroom, you will need to be logged in with the Student’s Aeries Portal account (as teachers can not add non-students/parents/guardians to their Google Classroom).

Finally, please continue to check the CVUSD website for updates on the COVID-19 situation as it impacts our schools, especially with regards to the services that will continue during this time of suspended on-site instruction. We will continue to be in touch and are in the process of updating our own school website to have more information readily available--we appreciate your patience as we are working through many new things at once. If you are aware of a parent/guardian who is NOT receiving these messages, please have them email me directly at awong@cv.k12.ca.us.

I would like to take a moment to share my gratitude for our wonderful Canyon staff who have been working so diligently for the last several days as current events and the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and impact our school and our community. Thank you also to our families who have shown amazing support for students and staff as we move forward in uncertain times. I know that in working together, we will continue to foster a reassuring and resilient community for all of our students.

CVUSD is committed to providing equal opportunity for all individuals in education. District programs, activities, and practices shall be free from discrimination, intimidation, harassment and bullying based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or genetic information; the perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. Violations of this policy should be reported immediately to the site administrator(s) at District Schools. Inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of Student Services, 4400 Alma Avenue, Castro Valley CA 94546, 510-537-3000 x 1257

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